phipps



(ModeL) WIGK TRIMMER; No. 280.510. Patented July 3,- 1883.

PETERS. Pmm-Lnm n bu. Wahin ton. h. I.

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

AZOR J. PHIPPS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO OSGAR DAVIS, OF SAME PLACE.

WlCK-TRIMMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 280,510, dated July 3, 1883.

Application filed December 18, 1882. (Model) I To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AzoR J. Harris, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and use ful Improvement in Shears, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, form ing a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is an isometrical perspective view; Fig. 2, aside elevation; Fig. 3, abottom plan view of the guard and spring; and Fig. 4, an end view, showing the shears in use.

Likeletters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates especially to shears designed for trimming the wicks of kerosene lamps and stoves; and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by which a more effective device of this character is produced than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improve ment will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation, its extreme simplicity rendering an elaborate description unnecessary:

In the drawings, A B represent the blades,

and C D the handles, of the shears, which are centrally pivoted or jointed at E in the usual manner.

Beneath the blades A B, and pivoted or jointed therewith at E, there is a guard or auxiliary blade, G, provided with the spring H, as shown in Fig. 3, one end of said spring resting against the inner side of the handle 0, near its outer end, and the other against the inner side of the handle D, near its inner end, as seen in Fig. 1.

Projecting downwardly from the auxiliary blade or guard G there is a flange or stop, J, on that side of the same which is nearest the blade B, and near the joint E there is a bifurcated rest or holder, K, forming part of said guard, as seen in Fig. 3.

The blade A is provided with a depression, L, and upwardlyprojecting flange M, for receiving and holding the carbonized portions of the wick removed in trimming, and is curved or bent downwardly at N, the blade B being curved in a corresponding manner at 1?, thus forming at this point curved cutting-edges, which round the corners or upper edges of the wick in trimming.

WVhen ordinary shears are used for trimming kerosene lamps and stoves having fiat wicks, the wicks are liable to be crowded or forced out of position by the shears and unevenly cut or trimmed, thus causing them to smoke or burn with an irregularly shaped flame. My invention is designed to obviate this difficulty, and to that end I make use of the guard or auxiliary blade G, by means of which the wick 1s steadied or kept in a proper position while being cuta thing which it is very difficult to accomplish when the ordinary shears are employed, especially with wide wicks, such as are used in stoves and large lamps.

In the use of my improvement the edge of the wick-tube is first properly inserted in the holder or rest K and the stop J brought against the side of the tube, the guardGresting onthe upper edge of the tube, as indicated by the dotted line 00 in Fig. 3. The handles OD arethen closed, the wick being grasped and held between the guard G'and blade A until the blade B shuts and cuts the wick, in a manner which will be readily obvious withouta more explicit description. 7

The cuttingedge of the blade Ais arranged slightly above the upper edge of the guard G, or so as not to interfere with the action of the blades A B, and the holder K of such a size as the same consisting of the blades AB, provided for steadying the trimmer on the tube, subwith handles 0 1), in combination with the stantially as set forth. guard G, provided with the holder K, stop J, 4. The guard G, projcctingbeneath the hanand spring H, all constructed, combined, and dles O D, as shown at z, and providedwith the I 5 5 arranged to operate substantially as set forth. spring H, in combination with the blades A B Y 2. In a wick-trimmer substantially such as and pivot E, substantially as described. described, the depression L and guard M, in

v 1 combination with the blade A, substantially as AZOR PHIP] and for the purpose specified. \Vitncsses:

IO 3. The guard G, provided with the rectan- C. A. SHAW,

gular slot or holder K and offset or stop J, H. E. METGALF. 

